Post by Remalis on Aug 21, 2014 4:46:30 GMT
There were thousands of them. A mass of objects tumbling through space. Some gargantuan, small planetoids in their own right. Some no more than boulders. They all moved on the same bearing, at the same speed, well below relativistic velocity. Lifeless. Inert. Harmless.
......
Over centuries the collection of debris had drifted by countless systems. Their passing of planets caused no panic among sentient indigenes.
Barely a ripple in the warp beyond the physical mass displacing it. The only sign that anything might be amiss, was during approach to systems rich in biodiversity.
A handful of smaller objects would shift. Almost imperceptibly.
......
The new track through space would, in time, have these errant bodies plunge through the atmosphere of any verdant planet.
The psyker population on such a planet might shift restlessly in slumber , plagued by sudden nightmares. Or the awake might feel a slight uneasiness about them - jumpy and on edge. In a day or so the troubled feelings would subside. Life continues.
......
The presence drifts on.
Through the region to be known collectively as the Halo stars and the Korinus expanse.
Approaching a vast tempestuous haze marking the edge of a warp storm it enters unperturbed.
......
And out the other side.
A cluster of several hundred of the largest objects remain. Pitted and scarred. Their resources exhasted and the last of the smaller satellites now expended.
......
A subtle change.
Inert objects no more there is a shifting. Huge fins and tentacles emerge. A stretching. AWAKENING.
Like a rock dropped in a pond, a wave cascades out through the aether. This however is no mere ripple but a tsunami. Not a whisper, it is a roar. Echoing out and bypassing the physical realm Leviathan calls. It listens.
It reconnects to the greater self.
......
Who knows how long it spent drifting through the warp storms. This is a meaningless concept to the swarm.
It is far behind on the evolutionary track. Hive ships begin the process of awakening the old bioforms held in stasis.
From the vast amount of input received, Norn Queens begin sequencing new patterns and adaptions to bring forth newer symbiotes that will help it replenish.
Ahead of them a dense collection of nourishment awaits.
.......
This Dark Leviathan will feed, grow and when it reaches full strength again it will launch itself onwards returning to a quiet hibernation. It will release seeds into fertile ground as it slowly drifts through this galaxy and onto the next.
......
In the dark and empty void, an aeon of time and distance behind the fleet, a single tendril changes direction to follow.
......
Over centuries the collection of debris had drifted by countless systems. Their passing of planets caused no panic among sentient indigenes.
Barely a ripple in the warp beyond the physical mass displacing it. The only sign that anything might be amiss, was during approach to systems rich in biodiversity.
A handful of smaller objects would shift. Almost imperceptibly.
......
The new track through space would, in time, have these errant bodies plunge through the atmosphere of any verdant planet.
The psyker population on such a planet might shift restlessly in slumber , plagued by sudden nightmares. Or the awake might feel a slight uneasiness about them - jumpy and on edge. In a day or so the troubled feelings would subside. Life continues.
......
The presence drifts on.
Through the region to be known collectively as the Halo stars and the Korinus expanse.
Approaching a vast tempestuous haze marking the edge of a warp storm it enters unperturbed.
......
And out the other side.
A cluster of several hundred of the largest objects remain. Pitted and scarred. Their resources exhasted and the last of the smaller satellites now expended.
......
A subtle change.
Inert objects no more there is a shifting. Huge fins and tentacles emerge. A stretching. AWAKENING.
Like a rock dropped in a pond, a wave cascades out through the aether. This however is no mere ripple but a tsunami. Not a whisper, it is a roar. Echoing out and bypassing the physical realm Leviathan calls. It listens.
It reconnects to the greater self.
......
Who knows how long it spent drifting through the warp storms. This is a meaningless concept to the swarm.
It is far behind on the evolutionary track. Hive ships begin the process of awakening the old bioforms held in stasis.
From the vast amount of input received, Norn Queens begin sequencing new patterns and adaptions to bring forth newer symbiotes that will help it replenish.
Ahead of them a dense collection of nourishment awaits.
.......
This Dark Leviathan will feed, grow and when it reaches full strength again it will launch itself onwards returning to a quiet hibernation. It will release seeds into fertile ground as it slowly drifts through this galaxy and onto the next.
......
In the dark and empty void, an aeon of time and distance behind the fleet, a single tendril changes direction to follow.